Chapter 86

When he finally said he repented, they shouted Hosannas again and again, until finally, there was one last prayer, with Pastor Carl laying his hand on Jamey’s head. “You’re saved, hold on to that, hold on to your repentance. Sin no more. Praise the Lord!”

Jamey spent the night alone, and hungry—to reflect, the Pastor said, on his sins and his salvation, to gather his strength against backsliding.

He had only said he repented to get them to stop. This wasn’t love. Jamey knew that wasn’t completely true. He knewhis parents loved him. Casey and Mattie loved him. Aunt Louisa loved him. His parents were good people, too. They did good things. His mother visited shut-ins and she did shopping for them. She made casseroles and cakes and pies whenever there was a sickness, a death. His dad fixed cars for people who had no money. He mowed yards and dug up weeds for old men and ladies with gnarled arthritic hands.

Just like the prayer team. Just like Pastor Carl.